Finding Captain Karol
by Beinergarde
Summary: After the events in the game; Brave Vesperia settles in Dahngrest with Karol leading the guild. But he goes missing on a job after an argument with Yuri, hinting at his past before he met them all. Rated M for heavily implied adult themes for now.


Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia, just a very big fan.

* * *

Yuri walked in to see his young leader hunched over a desk in their base in Dahngrest; he had a few pieces of paper in front of him, jobs probably. Karol rubbed his eyes and let back with a sigh.

"Tough decisions, boss?" Yuri asked with a smile, making Karol jump a little. Karol looked up at him, then back down at the jobs.

"Yeah, we got too much work and not enough people." Karol mused dejectedly. Things had been hectic since they had turned back the Adephagos. Estelle had gone back to the capital to help Ioder rebuild things. Rita, of course, had gone with her. That just left him, Raven, Yuri, Judith and Repede. Raven was still a member of Altosk but he helped out most times, no one seemed to mind that in the Union, they wouldn't get very far even if they did.

"We may have to turn some of them down then." Yuri said in a matter of fact manner. Karol shook his head.

"No! These are all important; it just might take a while to get them all done." The captain picked up three of the pieces of paper off the desk, nodding to himself when he made a decision. "You and Repede need to collect the ingredients needed on this list, we are running low on vital supplies for the clinics, you should be able to find most of these on Tolybiccia, so you shouldn't need a lift." Yuri nodded and took the paper outstretched to him, scanning through it.

"What are the rest of you going to do?" He asked, looking at the job papers Karol was still holding.

"Judith and Raven can go to Hypionia to get some more ingredients we need…" Karol had his back to him, heading for the door. "And I am going to the Wesand of Cados." Karol yanked the door open, hoping to escape before there was an argument, a hand appeared above his head in a second, slamming the door closed.

"By yourself, Karol?" Yuri asked. Karol sighed and turned around to face the older swordsman.

"Yes, Yuri, by myself. I can use Ba'ul to get there and back; I shouldn't be gone for more a day, in fact, we all should be back by tonight." Karol put the pieces of paper back into his bag. "Look, I know you don't like me taking jobs by myself, but the fact remains that your two jobs require you to fight a lot of monsters to get the quantities we need. Mine, I should have to fight one or two, three tops." Yuri released the door and folded his arms across his chest.

"Still, you should come with me today; we can both go to Cados tomorrow then." Yuri stated, expecting Karol to cave in, as he does normally. He got a shock when the captain shook his head violently.

"Stop treating me like I can't do anything by myself!" Karol was angry. "I know I am young, but I am a lot more capable than you give me credit for, Yuri… I thought you knew that now." Yuri looked away; he hated it whenever someone brought up the Blade Drifts, how helpless he had felt, watching Karol fight all on his own.

"I know you are, Karol, but that doesn't me-" Yuri started to say, before the young captain interrupted him.

"You know what, Yuri? Forget it, you just don't get it, what it's like to grow up on your own, at least you had Flynn and the others in the lower quarter looking out for you… I didn't, I had to look out for me." Karol's mouth was set in a grim line as he turned and opened the door. "I can take care of myself." And with that, he left. Yuri looked a little dumbfounded and glanced down at Repede,

"Now what was all that about?" He asked. Repede just whined in response.

* * *

Karol had arrived at the Wesand of Cados without incident, and was currently deep inside the winding tunnels, hunting out his prey. His mind was elsewhere though, still thinking over the argument he had had with Yuri that morning.

"Stupid Yuri!" He mumbled as he crept around a rock, avoiding the fights he didn't need to partake in. "Always thinking that I can't handle myself, I grew up on the streets of Dahngrest, probably seen more things than he ever will!" He spat out bitterly, and then he spotted it. The final monster that he needed to collect all the supplies he was here for. With a battle cry, he ran forward, barrelling into it to initiate the fight. Karol dispatched with it with ease, and allowed himself a small smirk of pride as he placed his prize into his beloved bag.

"Right, time to get back." He said to himself as he stood up, spotting the flying enemy too late. He jumped back to avoid it. Not realising how close he was to the edge of the path, he scrambled to grab something, getting his hands round a rock, but it was loose, the rock and him tumbled into the darkness. Karol landed hard, knocking the wind out of him… then the rock that had fallen with him landed with a sickening crunch on his left leg, Karol let out a scream of agony and promptly passed out.

* * *

Yuri sat impatiently in the Sagittarius tavern, their unofficial meeting place when they all had jobs. He kept his eyes firmly on the door, waiting for his companions to turn up. He breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted the Krytian and the old man, wandering in, packs full. They walked over and sat down,

"Sorry that we're late, some of us aren't up to the task of hard work anymore." Judith said with a teasing smile to the old man.

"Well, ya know, these old bones aren't what they used to be." He laughed, looking around "Hey, where's the kid? He gone to bed already? He was with you today, right?"

"What do you mean?" Yuri asked "Captain Karol decided to go by himself to the Wesand of Cados to get us a few bits, what he didn't tell you?" Yuri was still a little sore from their fight this morning. Raven's eyes narrowed, showing that he hadn't.

"No, he didn't, judging by your tone, he probably wanted to avoid another argument." Judith said in her ever perceptive way. Raven rose from his chair.

"Well, I was lookin' forward to some sleep but it's nearly daybreak, we had best go lookin' for him." He turned towards the door, mumbling something about 'idiots lettin' children go on their own'. Yuri and Judith rose to follow him.

"Hey, Judy, I didn't just let him go, I tried to st-" Yuri started to say, Judith shook her head.

"I know, the old man is just worried, don't take it to heart." She told him with a smile. Yuri smiled a little himself before letting it fall, thinking _'He's not the only one'_

* * *

Yuri was on the Fierta's deck, leaning on the railing, looking out. He couldn't get that argument out of his head, what could Karol have possibly meant? Yuri couldn't work it out, he thought he knew the kid pretty well, but when he came out with stuff like that, he realised that he really didn't. Yuri was stirred from his musing by a presence besides him, glancing to the side; he saw the purple of the old man's coat, looks like he'd been forgiven.

"Hey, kid, you look like you got something on your mind…" Raven asked. "More than the obvious, I mean."

"Just something Karol said, about growing up on his own, with no one looking out for him." Yuri mumbled "There was a look in his eyes, like it was something he was trying to forget, it made me realise, I really don't know anything about his past." Yuri stopped when he realised the old man wasn't beside him anymore, he looked back to see Raven had drawn back, rubbing his forehead, with a weird look. "What? Do you know something, old man?"

"Nothin' definite." Raven paused, thinking his words out "But Dahngrest isn't the easiest place ta grow up an orphan, the only guarantee of safety an' a full belly is to join a guild." Raven sighed "But nothin' in this life is free… there's a possibility the kid was used before he was old enough to be useful in other ways."

"Used?" Yuri asked, puzzled. "How do you mean?" Raven gave him a pained look,

"You gonna make me spell it out?" That's when Judith butted in, he hadn't even realised she was listening, her tone even, but her eyes betrayed her disgust.

"You mean the older guild members would use the younger ones for gratification, in return for room and board?" Raven just nodded "And Altosk allowed that?"

"Hell no! If we ever found evidence that anyone was doing that, it was immediate expulsion from the Union, with a few less teeth and body parts!" Raven look enraged, and then his shoulders sank. "But the younger ones hardly ever come forward, too scared of repercussions, too scared of not being believed." Yuri hadn't said anything for a while, he felt sick to his stomach, the thought that Karol could have been…

"No, not Karol, there is no way! He couldn't have kept something like that from us!" _'From me!' _Yuri shook his head in disbelief, looking for confirmation from his friends, Raven wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Karol does go out of his way to be useful to us." Judith mused. "Making maps, filling in the monster book, cooking for us…"

"Judy, no, please…" Yuri said, eyes closed, hand gripped into a fist.

"Hey, I don't like it any more than you do, but you have to admit, it makes sense! That boy carries a lot beneath the surface that he doesn't let anyone see, not even you and Raven." Judith's eyes flashed angrily, why was it always her that had to be the cold realist? Silence fell over the group for a few moments, before Raven piped up.

"Look, nothin' is for definite. The kid may have had a hard life without any of that stuff" Raven said uncertainly. "Let's just find him an' bring him home." Yuri nodded in agreement and turned around, leaning on the railing again.

"Alright, we're nearly there." He said, his mind racing _'Karol, please be ok…I'm sorry, I didn't understand'_

* * *

Karol was desperately thirsty, his canteen was in his bag, along with everything else of use, but that was trapped along with his leg. He had managed to untie his shoelace from the leg that was free and throw that out to collect moisture from the damp air of the aer krene. Karol sucked on the shoelace, it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his thirst but it would keep him going until the others came. Karol threw the string out again and laid back, he tried to think how long he had been there, he shivered and pulled his gloves higher on his wrists, he was so cold it hurt. He knew it couldn't be more than a day, two at the most. He'd got Ba'ul to give him a lift there; he also had his horn, seeing as Judith could call Ba'ul on her own. He should have been back in Dahngrest by nightfall. The others would notice he was gone and would come for him; he had no doubt about that. Karol shivered again and tried to shift in to a more comfortable position, without jarring his leg. He was getting worried; his leg was becoming numb, a relief from the searing agony he felt when he landed but worrying nonetheless. Karol closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep.

"I just gotta stay alive a little longer; they will come for me… right, Don?"

* * *

Yuri looked into the Wesand of Cados, still crawling with monsters and tried to ignore his thoughts that were running through all the awful scenarios that could have befallen his young friend. He looked down at Repede, his ever faithful companion.

"Alright, Repede, I'm counting on you." Repede looked up at him. "Go find Karol!" Repede took off with a determined bark. Yuri followed him closely, Raven and Judith not far behind. The old man had been subdued ever since their conversation earlier, Judith didn't think any of them would feel better until they got Karol safely home. After that, who knows? Maybe they could get the truth from him, learn something about their little leader, who more often than not, showed them he was much more world wise than he let on. Raven's head shot up at Repede's excited barking.

"He's found him!" Raven ran forward to join Yuri and Repede at the side of a crevice, it didn't look too deep but it was too dark to see the bottom. "Down there?" Raven asked, that cold feeling in his stomach again, were they going to find Karol, or Karol's body?

"Looks like it." Yuri was staring intently down, as if daring the darkness to stand in his way. "KAROL!" He yelled loudly. Nothing was heard except the echo of Yuri's shout, Repede whined before his ears pricked up.

"Yuri?" A voice called shakily from below. It took all of Yuri's strength not to jump down there right now.

"Karol! Hold on! We'll be right down!" He turned to Judith, who had already produced a rope, Raven tied it to a rock that was jutting out, kicking it a couple of times to make sure it was stable. Judith tossed the rope down the ravine; Yuri took the lead, smiling at his old friend.

"You stand guard up here, Repede, good job!" He began scaling down in to the darkness.

Yuri touched solid ground before long; he whipped a torch out of his pack and lit it, holding it high. He heard Judith and Raven touch down beside him,

"There!" Judith said, pointing to where there was something faintly yellow, half hidden by a rock. Yuri ran over and sank down on his knees besides the boy; Karol looked up at him tiredly.

"Yuri… I knew you guys would come." He smiled weakly. Yuri laughed, placing the torch down, eyes glancing at the leg under the rock.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn't be much of a guild without the captain, right?" He spotted the shoelace stretched out to the side _'Clever, Karol, very clever'_ he unclipped his canteen and handed it to him. "Here, you must be th-" He didn't get to finish the sentence before Karol started glugging it down like… well, like someone who hadn't had a drink in a day and a half.

"Careful, Karol, you don't want to get sick." Judith giggled as she watched the boy. Raven was looking at the rock trapping Karol's leg.

"Yuri, gonna need a hand here to shift this thing, I'm thinkin' if me and you can get this lifted a few inches, Judith can yank the kid out and we can put it down." Raven looked at the captain, his voice going serious. "Karol, when we shift this thing, all the blood is going to go rushing back into your leg… brace yourself" Karol wiped his mouth and nodded.

"Here." Judith popped a piece of wood, wrapped in leather into his mouth. "Bite down on this." Yuri positioned himself next to the old man,

"Ok then, on three." Yuri put his hands into the small gap between the crevice floor and the rock, Raven followed suit "One, two, three." Yuri lifted as hard as he could, sweat beading on his forehead. He was vaguely aware of something glowing red besides him. _'Careful, old man, don't want to carry you out too'_ the rock shifted and Yuri could hear muffled screams of agony before Judith finally said,

"Got him!" Raven and Yuri let the rock back down and sat down puffing and panting.

"Karol?" Yuri asked when he got his breath back. Judith shook her head,

"He's passed out" She was looking at the mangled mess of Karol's left leg. "We may need to take him to Zaphias, we may need Estelle." Yuri looked up,

"Well, let's get him out of this hole first, then decide where to take him." Yuri dug around in Karol's bag until he found a mat. Carefully, him and Judith laid Karol out on it and carried him to the end of the rope. Raven cut the excess from the rope, retied it higher and used the two ends to attach to either end of the make shift stretcher.

"You young 'uns go up and pull, I will watch from down here to make sure he doesn't fall." Raven's grin was fake, his chest was aching from shifting that rock, he cursed his body inwardly.

"Careful, old man, we may forget to throw the rope back down for you." Yuri's grin told him he had no intention of doing so. It had the desired effect though, Raven grinned.

"Kids these days, I tell ya, no respect." Yuri laughed as he followed Judith back up the rope and set about pulling Karol up.

* * *

Judith had called Ba'ul as soon as they got out of Cados; Tokanaga met them at the top of the ramp. He looked at Karol and said,

"What do you need me to do?"

"Get some hot water and any first aid supplies we have to the cabin." Yuri said from his position at the front of the stretcher.

"And some dry clothes and blankets, as well." Judith said from behind him, Yuri glanced back at her. "He's been lying in a cold, damp cave for the best part of two days, he was freezing." She explained, Yuri nodded and headed for the cabin. Between the two of them, they got the captain on to the bed, Tokanaga had brought was needed. Yuri used a knife to cut away the left leg of Karol's trousers so he could get a better look.

"Yikes, this is bad." Yuri said to no one really, he looked down at the medical supplies "Do I clean the wounds first? Or do I stabilise the break?" He heard a sigh behind him as he was pushed out of the way.

"Here, let me do it, I've been fixing up wounds since before you were born." Raven pulled up a stool, rolled up his sleeves, dipped a clean cloth into the hot water, wringing it out and beginning to gently clean the dried blood, mud and muck off of Karol's leg. "See if you can find something to use as a splint, we'll need two, one for each side." Yuri nodded and pushed himself off the wall, walking into the store room. Raven worked quickly and with skill, cleaning the wounds with warm water, then antiseptic. He cut a gel in half and used the goo inside to close some of the smaller cuts. He was vaguely aware of the sound of something smashing from the storeroom as he realised he had nothing to use for stitches. Yuri came in, brandishing two table legs, looking vaguely pleased with himself.

"These look about the right length, don't they?" He asked, leaning them up against the bed. Raven nodded as he placed gauze on the wounds he couldn't close, the bleeding had stopped, thankfully.

"We shouldn't need to go to Zaphias, one of the healers in Dahngrest should be able to fix up these cuts and reset his leg for us." Raven said as he put one splint on either side of Karol's leg and used the remaining gauze to strap it in place. He sat back, cracking his knuckles. "That's about the best that I can do for now." He grabbed his knife and used it to cut away what remained of Karol's pants, with Yuri's help, he removed Karol's shirt and put a dry one on. It was way too big, it reached to his knees.

"You watch him for now, Raven." Yuri said as the old man covered up the captain with a blanket. "I'll let Judy know where we are headed." Raven just nodded and got himself comfortable for his vigil.

* * *

Yuri returned a little while later, as he opened the door; he had to smile at the scene. The old man was off his stool, leaning against the bed, fast asleep. Yuri took one of the extra blankets and laid it over him. Yuri sat on the stool and looked at the young man.

""You're awake, aren't you?" Yuri asked him, softly, so as not to disturb Raven. Karol opened his eyes slowly and nodded. "You in pain?" Karol just nodded again slightly. Yuri fished a gel out of Karol's bag and gave it to him.

"Thank you." Karol said, some of the tension in his face easing. He was silent for a second before he said "I'm sorry, Yuri, you were right. We shouldn't do any one man jobs anymore, anything can happen." He sighed as he said it, looking away.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry too." Yuri said, Karol looked at him with a question on his face. "I didn't mean to make you think that I thought you weren't capable, I know you are." Karol smiled at him, before closing his eyes with a yawn. That made Yuri's next question die on his lips, now wasn't the time. He rubbed his own eyes, he needed sleep too, but he would wait till they got Karol to the clinic in Dahngrest. He heard the door click open, he nodded to Judith as she sat beside him, she had a frown on her face.

"What?" Yuri asked, fairly certain he wasn't going to like the answer.

"I realised today that Karol's never hugged me." Judith sighed, Yuri thought for a second.

"Me either, not even when I came back after Zaude, I mean, he ran up to me but stopped." Yuri remembered "I thought it was because he was angry coz I hadn't let him know I was ok, but maybe not, now that I think about it." Yuri sighed, lowered his head and shook it, everything made too much sense.

"I was thinking" Judith said, making Yuri look up at her. "Do we really have to know? I just can't see what good it would do to bring up the past, apart from hurt Karol by opening old wounds." Yuri nodded, he could see the sense in what she said.

"I just have to know, Judy, I have to know." Yuri grit his teeth. "And once I know, I will get names, and then I will go and break some heads."

"Not if I beat you to it." Raven chimed in, surprising them both, a hard look in eyes. One that was more Schwann than Raven. Yuri flashed him a smile and a laugh.

"Alright, old man, I will take you with me" That seemed to satisfy the former Knight, who closed his eyes again.

* * *

The doctor in the clinic was looking over Karol's leg; Raven and Yuri were stood near the wall. Judith was giving all the ingredients they had gathered to the craftsmen, to make into supplies.

"Well, there is no sign of infection, which is good…" Karol smiled at that "But I can't stitch up these wounds until I reset the leg." Karol paled when he said that. The doctor patted his arm. "Relax, I have just the thing to knock you out, you won't feel a thing." He pulled a vial of some liquid out of his bag. Karol's eyes widened in horror.

"N-no way!" He exclaimed. "What if I don't wake up?"

"Highly unlikely, now open up." The doctor said, uncorking the bottle. Karol clamped his mouth shut and shook his head. Yuri shared a glance with the old man and pushed himself off the wall. Raven took the bottle without a word as Yuri stood the other side of Karol's head. The young leader's eyes darted from one to the other, deeply mistrustful.

"Sorry, Karol, this is for your own good." Yuri stated evenly as he reached forward, he put one arm across Karol's torso to stop him struggling and used the other to clamp his nostrils closed. Karol tried to thrash around but Yuri was just too strong for him. His face grew redder until his mouth opened in a gasp. Raven saw his chance and grabbed Karol's jaw with his free hand and used the other to pour a small quantity from the bottle into his mouth, tilting his chin up to make sure he swallowed. Karol choked and gasped, but couldn't stop him. He glared at his friends with a look of betrayal that they hadn't seen before. Raven tried to diffuse it.

"You do not wanna be awake for this, trust me." He said knowingly. Karol just glared at him, eyes already beginning to droop, but he was fighting it hard. Yuri rubbed his head with affection.

"Just go to sleep, you'll be fine in a few hours." Karol looked at him, anger replaced by fear as he realised he couldn't fight going under. He grabbed Yuri's hand,

"Yuri, I'm scared." He managed to say before the sedative finally kicked in. Yuri sighed as he released Karol's hand. Raven and he left the room to let the doctor do his work, with the help of a few orderlies.

"You think he'll forgive us, old man?" Yuri asked.

"Probably, that kid's too nice to hold a grudge." Raven looked at Yuri, who was dead on his feet. "That stuff if gonna keep him out for a few hours, why don't you go and get some sleep? I will hang around here and come get you if something changes." Yuri nodded and gave Raven a small wave of appreciation before heading back to base.


End file.
